01
On the day of our engagement party, my fiancé, Luke Gilbert, walked out on me for the fake heiress again.
"Sandra, Alison's stomach cramps are acting up, and I need to take care of her. Let's push our engagement party to another day."
Looking at that careless little text from Luke, I suddenly laughed.
These past five years.
I'd lost count of how many times he'd abandoned me for Alison Pruitt.
I picked up my phone and sent Luke a message: "Today is our engagement party. Are you sure you want to walk out on me to go look after Alison Pruitt?"
I waited a full ten minutes. The screen lit up again and again, but no new message ever came.
His last social post was from three days ago, and it was the hotel address for our engagement party.
"Save the date, everyone, and witness the union of Luke and Sandra Pruitt."
Back then, everyone said we were a perfect match, made for each other.
I'd thought so too. That all my patience had finally paid off.
Now, it just seemed laughable.
I picked up my phone, took a screenshot of Luke's text, and posted it to the family group chat.
Then I typed a line: "Let's turn the engagement party into a broken-engagement party!"
1
Not long after I sent the message, Luke's parents came rushing over.
Olivia Gilbert grabbed my hand, her face flushed dark red.
She scolded Luke over and over for being so foolish, then turned to order her assistant to bring him back at once.
"Sandy, don't be upset. Luke's just spoiled because we let him get away with too much. Don't worry, in my heart you're the only daughter-in-law I'll ever accept..."
I pulled my hand back and smiled, my voice so calm it surprised even me. "Ma'am, there's no need to bring him back. He's already chosen to go take care of Alison Pruitt, so there's no reason to hold this engagement together anymore."
Olivia froze, as if she'd never expected such a final answer from me, the gentle, sensible girl she thought she knew.
Will Gilbert frowned and sighed, his tone edged with coaxing. "Sandy, Luke really was in the wrong here, and we'll apologize on his behalf. Let's talk it through slowly later. Even if you won't do it for us, you should think about the Pruitt family's reputation..."
I paused and glanced toward the ballroom.
The Pruitts had spent half a year preparing this engagement party, inviting nearly every prominent name in Havenport.
If the engagement really fell apart today, the Pruitt family would indeed lose face.
But so what?
It was better than marrying in and watching my own husband abandon his home and family for another woman, day after day.
I met Will's gaze without giving an inch. "It's precisely because I want to protect the Pruitt family's reputation that I can't let a mistake go on. Otherwise the Pruitts will lose far more face down the road!"
"Well said!" At that moment, my father pushed the door open and walked in, patting my shoulder.
"A daughter of the Pruitt family doesn't swallow her pride to save appearances! This engagement is off today, and that's final!"
The moment he said it, Will's and Olivia's faces went a deep, mottled red.
Olivia opened her mouth to say more, when a commotion suddenly broke out beyond the door.
I raised an eyebrow and was about to send someone to check, when the door of the sitting room was shoved open with a bang.
There stood Luke, supporting an ashen-faced Alison, the two of them appearing in the doorway just like that.
